Syracuse track and field: ACC Outdoor Championships preview

The Syracuse Orange track and field teams are in Raleigh for the 2023 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend.

While the Orange won’t be in contention for team titles this year, several individual athletes will be among the favorites to bring home gold. Let’s take a look at those Syracuse athletes in order of their event:

Thursday:

The 400m hurdles kicks off the meet and Shaleah Colaire will be in her first hurdle event. Colaire has a top-15 time in the 400m hurdles while Xayvion Perkins and Elijah Mallard are 6th and 7th on the men’s list.

Sprinter Trei Thorogood has the 7th-fastest time on the men’s side and he’ll be looking to make the finals in the event. That’s followed by the first distance race of the meet, the 1500m. Nathan Henderson is looking to get back to the NCAA Championships in the event and he has the 9th-fastest time in the ACC this season.

Thursday night’s capped off by the 10000m run where Syracuse could produce a lot of points. Amanda Vestri has the top ACC time in the event but she will be pushed by NC State star Katelyn Tuohy, who is coming off a NCAA record in the 5k last weekend. Savannah Roark (3rd), Sophia Jacobs-Townsley (7th) and Ellie Lawler (11th) all rank in the top 11 in the ACC so this should be the best event for the Orange women.

In the men’s 10k, Paul O’Donnell (4th), Assaf Harari (6th), Alex Comerford (7th) and Nathan Lawler (8th) highlight a deep Syracuse contingent in the event.

Friday:

The hurdles start off the 2nd day of competition- but this time it’s the 100/110, Shaleah Colaire has the 12th-fastest time in the event and she’ll be looking to get into the next round. Five Syracuse men rank in the top ten in the ACC entering this meet. Jaheem Hayles (2nd), Anthony Vasquez (6th), Naseem Smith (7th), Emmanuel Joseph (8th) and David Peters (10th) have the potential to make this the most productive event for the men.

Kevin Robertson will close out the day with the 3000m steeplechase. Robertson has the 2nd-fastest time in the ACC this season as he pushes to make his 1st NCAA Championship appearance.

Saturday:

The final day of competition begins with the 4x100m relay events. Syracuse’s men’s squad is the 8th-fastest team in the ACC this season

The women’s 5000m event will see Vestri, Roark and Abigail Spiers vying for points among a deep group of NC State runners. In the men’s 5000m, Paul O’Donnell (5th seed) will look to add an ACC Outdoor title to the one he won in this event indoors. He’s joined by Noah Carey (4th) and Nathan Henderson (13th) in the event.

The entire meet will be available to watch online through ACC Network Extra and you can follow the live results here. We’ll have a full recap next week.